CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Cedar Rapids opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning Sunday afternoon and did not look back, besting Quad Cities 8-1 to earn a split in the six-game series.
For the first time in the series, the Kernels scored first. In the bottom of the first inning, walks from Marek Houston and Brandon Winokur put a pair of runners on. After Houston moved to third base on a wild pitch, he scored on a Khadim Diaw sacrifice fly to put Cedar Rapids on top 1-0.
In the bottom of the second, the Kernels added on. Quinn McDaniel singled to open the inning, and a Jay Thomason walk put two on for Houston, who plated both with a two-run double to extend the advantage to 3-0.
Quad Cities got on the board in the top of the third. Nolan Sailors worked a two-out walk and, after stealing second, scored a batter later on an Asbel Gonzalez RBI double to make it a 3-1 game.
But that was all of the River Bandit scoring on the day. Garrett Horn allowed just the one run across three innings of work in his first start of the year. Behind him, the Kernels bullpen combined between Cole Peschl, Christian Beccera, Adam Falinski and Paulshawn Pasqualotto, did not allow a run the rest of the way on just two hits across the final six innings.
The offense added on in the fifth. A Danny De Andrade walk followed by singles from Houston and Winokur loaded the bases with one out. A pair of bases loaded walks from Diaw and Yasser Mercedes brought in two runs before a wild pitch plated a third in the inning to extend the lead to 6-1.
Cedar Rapids put it away in the seventh. An error, Diaw single and a balk put runners on second and third to start the inning. After a fielder’s choice and a stolen base, two were back in scoring position for McDaniel who singled to plate both runners to make it 8-1, the score that would be the final.
The win improves Cedar Rapids to 26-25 on the season and to 9-9 in the season series with Quad Cities. The Kernels 12-game homestand continues on Tuesday at 6:35 when Wisconsin visits Veterans Memorial Stadium. J.D. Thompson starts for the Timber Rattlers against a Kernels starter TBD.